Portrait of Anne Killigrew (c. 1660-1685), three-quarter-length, in a yellow dress, holding a porte crayon, by a table, a draped curtain, column and park landscape beyond

This portrait is the only known likeness of Anne Killigrew other than her full-length self-portrait (Gloucestershire, Berkeley Castle). One of the most celebrated female prodigies of late 17th century England, Anne Killigrew was an artist and a poet whose untimely death at the age of twenty-five prompted John Dryden to write an elegy: 'To The Pious Memory of the Accomplish'd Young Lady Excellent in the two Sister-Arts of Poesy, and Painting.' Her extant works include a portrait of James II (Royal Collection) and a large mythological painting of Venus attired by the Graces (Falmouth Art Gallery). Lely alludes to her artistic achievements in this portrait through the inclusion of the head study for her self-portrait, which rests on the table beside her, and the porte-crayon that she holds in her lap. It is likely that Killigrew herself studied and was influenced by Lely's work, as well as the pictures in the Royal Collection, given her links to the Royal Household - she is listed in 1683 as one of the six maids of honour to Mary of Modena, Duchess of York. Her family was intimately involved with the Restoration court: her father, Dr. Henry Killigrew, was chaplain to the Duke of York and prebendary of Westminster; her uncles Thomas and William Killigrew were prominent figures in the Restoration theatre; and her brothers both became naval officers.